To Burn in Ecstasy and Agony
by Young Writter at Large
Summary: Loki/Natasha-onesided Love!Hate and Clint/Natasha T-for safety Set after the movie. Natasha gets a strange dream, through wich Loki contacts her. I did say I was bad at summaries, didn't I?
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, Here we go, I suppose!)**

**[PS-link for the song- .com/watch?v=WrSeEWd7OeE]**

The Avengers were enjoying a pleasant evening at the Stark Tower. Tony and Bruce were fixing the Iron Suit, Natasha and Clint were practicing their aerobatics, trying to kick each others ass. Steve was training in his boxing corner. Thor was back in Asgard, and so was Loki, presumably.

And after an hour or two a guitar was pulled out, the drinks were being passed around and a song was sung.

_Back in Asgard Thor was speaking to Loki between prison bars._

"Have you ever burned from the inside?" the god of mischief asked the god of thunder. "Burned in agony and ecstasy, torture and bliss?"

"No. Loki, tell me what…burns you!''

"Tell me firstly, how often do you visit Earth?"

"Often enough, why?

"Next time you see Barton tell him I left a spider on Earth." Loki said dully and went to the furthest corner of his cell.  
He hated her. He loved her. He simply needed her to be _his_ and _only_ his.

_Earth._

"To Us!" Tony Stark said with a slightly drunk voice.

"I don't know about you, but this is my last drink for tonight!" The drunken Captain of America said and, swallowing the drink, he left. Bruce followed him a toast later, leaving two fully drunk men and a completely sober woman in the 'kitchen'.

"So how come you aren't drunk yet, Romanoff?" Tony asked.

"Stark, it's useless! Even _I_ don't know that!" Clint said, as he reached to kiss Natasha but instead of finding two welcoming lips on his own pair he found Natasha's finger. Clint sighed, perhaps this wasn't his day.

Natasha picked up the guitar and pulled a few chords. Looking at the two men, she agreed with herself that they were drunk beyond reason, so her secret would be safe. She started a Russian song, grabbing Clint's and Tony's attentions.

А все кончается, кончается, кончается. It all will end and end and end  
Едва качаются перон и фонари, The platforms and the lampposts rocking slightly  
Глаза прощаются, на долго изучаются, Eyes meet and study each other thoroughly  
И так все ясно, слов не говори! It's all so clear, no need for words!

А голова моя полна бессоницей And while my head is sleepless  
Полна тревоги голова моя, My head is full of anxiety

И как расти не может дерево без солнца, And while a tree cannot live without sunlight

Так не могу я быть без вас, друзья! I cannot live without you all, my friends!

She finished the song and went to her own room and got into her bed and tried to go to sleep.

_Natasha walked through an endless green field. The sky was a clear blue, without a single cloud. Field flowers bloomed in the long grass and slid through Natasha's fingers_ _as she walked across to the other end of the field. She didn't know why she went that way but her eyes caught a figure there and she walked towards it. She_ _walked confidently. But when the figure came into view and she saw who it was she stopped abruptly._

"_Hello, Natasha…" The person in front of the Black Widow said._

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_This is a dream. I cannot cross to your world, but I can enter your dreams…"_

"_Why! What for?"_

"_I wanted to see you. And I feel that seeing me in every one of your dreams will be better than seeing glimpses from your past!" The man said his voice low and thick._

"_Go away! You're worse than any of those nightmares!" Natasha yelled as she backed away._

_Loki reached for her hand which was pulled away immediately. The God of Mischief persisted and took Natasha's hand in his, pulled her into his embrace and held her tightly as she tried to pull back vainly._

Natasha woke up with a gasp. Just a nightmare… She looked at her alarm clock. 6:43, time to get up anyway, she thought. She walked into the kitchen, made herself a coffee and went to get dressed to attend a SHIELD meeting.

Just a nightmare…

**To be continued…**

**Reviews are loved!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to all of my reviewers and subscribers! It's you guys who keep me going! Special thanks to VoldieBeth, for being my first reviewer (Not that the others aren't great!)! **

**This chapter concentrates on the Avengers, but the next one will have much more of Loki.**

**Now where was I? Ah! Yes! The second chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Weeell! I went to the Marvel film studios and bought the whole lot of it, but then they sent Nat to kill me and retrieve the copyrights, so I just gave up on the idea.**

**To Burn in Agony and Ecstasy**

**Chapter Two**

That night the Avengers (including Thor) and Pepper sat at the kitchen table in the Stark Tower, now renamed the Avengers' tower, enjoying a dinner, cooked by Pepper and Natasha, which was a mix of American and Russian kitchens.

"Natasha," Tony butted in, "you forgot the vodka." He smiled charmingly.

"I don't see it as an essential in Russian meals. Unless it is compulsory in American traditional meals..." She almost snapped back. She hated it when her home-land was thought of only as the birthplace of vodka and AK-47 guns. Clint managed a snicker and Tony's startled face and gave Natasha a knowing look.

"So Thor!" Natasha changed the subject quickly. "Things seem pretty stable on Earth, how are things in Asgard?"

"Ah, my fair lady, you bring me to the subject of Loki's trial and his punishment." Thor said with some sadness. "Loki is a criminal and I agree with that, but he seems to be sending himself through needless agony, as he calls it."

"Indeed?" Tony asked. "Looks like I own you a ten Benner, Old Reindeer does seem to have a consciousness." Bruce looked at Tony with a look that clearly said 'I am not amused' and 'This is _not_ the time'. Thor looked at the two men harshly. He coughed and continued.

"He refuses to tell anybody what tortures him, he just says he burns, as he put it 'In agony and ecstasy'. And I feel deeply sorry for him."

"Sometimes," Natasha said, "people don't need to be punished, to understand what's wrong. They're conscience starts punishing them and they don't even think of committing such crimes again. But usually it's people who aren't emotionally strong or stable. I wouldn't have thought Loki a person of that kind."

"I knew people, from my time that is," Steve started, "who went to war to protect their families, who acted on the desire to save the world, but came scarcely a year later from an unstable emotional state. Some of them went mad form the scenes of battle, some from the fact that they killed people just like themselves…"

An awkward silence fell as the company took in Steve's words.

It was in this silence that Steve Natasha and Clint understood how much the three of them had in common. They all saw battle, they all killed and they all felt somewhat guilty, even though in the end they did the 'right' thing, for the 'greater good'.

When the meal was finished Thor went to the balcony to fly back to Asgard when he remembered Loki's message for Clint. Luckily the archer was close-by.

"Barton!" Thor called. Clint came out onto the balcony a few seconds later.

"What is it?" Clint asked.

"Loki asked me to tell you something. I think it may be something to do with why he's feeling so guilty, or whatever 'burns' him."

"Me? As in specifically _me_?" Clint asked, more than a bit confused.

"He asked to tell you, that he left a spider in Midgard."

Rage, anger, fire, jealousy, love, hate and other feelings clouded Clint Barton's mind milliseconds after he heard Loki's message. But he was a trained spy and assassin, so his body showed zero emotions. He would have to tell Natasha, but he would cross that bridge, when he came to it.

"Hmm…" He simply stated.

"Have you got any idea what he may have meant?" Thor asked.

"No. Sorry." Thor sighed and spun his 'hammer' and flew back to Asgard.

Back inside Natasha was cradling the guitar in her hands and playing a tune, which Tony and Clint found familiar, but they couldn't think why.

Мы по любимым разбредемся и по улицам, We will go back to our own streets and loved

Наденем Фраки и закрутимся в судьбе, We'll wear our best suits and spin in destiny

А если сердце заболит простудится, And if our heart will get sick, get a cold,

Искать лекарство будем не в себе! The medicine we shall find not in ourselves!

Natasha finished the song and set the guitar aside.

"Nat?" Clint asked her. "Could I have a moment with you?"

"Konechno!" She said and followed him to the corridor.

"Be careful, Barton! She took out one of my top boxers when he made a pun about her!" Tony shouted across the room.

As they rounded the corner Natasha put her back against the wall and looked expectantly at Clint.

"And?"

"It's about Loki." And as those words rang through her ears, Natasha remembered her nightmare. But she didn't let her face flinch.

"Thor said that Loki asked him to deliver me, specifically me, a message." He searched Natasha's eyes for any sort of glimpse of an emotion, but he found none. _What else did you expect Legolas?_ He mentally scolded himself.

"Loki said that he left a spider on Earth." The words stumbled out of his mouth, tripping on his tongue, eventually making the sentence a bit blurted-out-like. To Clint's comfort the Black Widow's face showed no emotions whatsoever. Perhaps she was a top-level spy, but feelings such as love can't be hidden, even if the outside of a person is stone cold.

"Well the bastard's in Asgard right now, so I don't really give a shit at the moment." Natasha's voice was cold. Clint grabbed her arm as she was about to leave, a sudden panic taking over his mind.

"So if he was still on Earth you could have been bothered?"

"Clint, Loki is the last person I'm worried about right now. I haven't got a 100% accurate idea of what he meant, but since he's not a problem for me any more I am not going to waste my time deciphering his code."

"But did you ever…" Clint was lost for words, "…have any, I don't know, have you ever been attracted to him?" He knew the question was awkward and he didn't know what made him ask it, but something inside him screamed and made his heart melt at the thought that _his_ Natasha could have been attracted to the God of Mischief. Perhaps it was jealousy, perhaps lust for her.

"Clint!" She answered roughly, "Love-is for children!" Her eyes were angry. He was a fool to think she could be attracted to Loki; he was just a God dam fool!

"Love_-is_ for children, but lust-is for _adults_." Clint pushed on uselessly.

"Clint, forget it! Ok? I hate that son-of-a-bitch and you know it!" Clint knew that Natasha was really pissed of with him now by the way her whisper was getting an annoyed tone.

She was right. Love was for people who believed the world was theirs and theirs alone, for people who believed that it would be just the two of them forever and always. Love was something that got adults compromised and killed, in their profession at least. Love was something that made a person vulnerable. But lust was something different. And Clint had admitted that. He chose for himself that it was respect and friendship and lust that kept him attached to Natasha, not love.

But deep down, under his stone armour, he knew he was lying to himself. He just hadn't admitted it fully yet.

Natasha went to sleep that night, hoping that it would be images of her past, not the self obsessed bastard, who was trapped in Asgard and who was sending Clint ciphered messages that made the archer vulnerable.

But Natasha's hopes had been denied. She was back in the endless field. But this time the figure was walking towards her. She ran but the figure caught up with her and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her towards himself and wrapped his arms around her slender figure. Natasha tried to fight him off, but his hold was strong as was his body. His eyes looked into hers, exploring their depths. Natasha was once again scared by the maniac look in his eyes. And before she knew it his lips had crashed into hers. Fighting back was useless so Natasha forced open her eyes and came back to reality. She felt cold sweat drip down from her forehead. The alarm clock read 5:59.

Natasha dressed herself, washed her face with cold, flipping hell, _freezing_ water, wiping away the last scenes of the nightmare. Suddenly she felt like her lips were a bit swollen. _You're paranoid, Nat, just paranoid!_ She thought to herself and went to make herself a coffee.

But something in the deepest point of her whispered to her subconscious, that it was not _just_ a nightmare.

**Love it, hate it? Tell me!**


	3. Chapter 3

Asgard, Loki's prison cell.

Loki sat in the corner of his cell, his arms on his knees, his head resting on the firstly named. He herd the corridor door open, but did not stir. The sound of two people walking towards his cell, then one of them immediately leaving did not bother the Demi-God. He cared not for the person who crouched down beside the bars of his prison and had now started studying. He cared not, for he knew the lady, for a lady it was. And it was this lady that he least wanted to see at that moment. So he ignored her presence and continued striding through his last dream-meeting with Natasha.

He could not physically meet her, for she was in a different world, but the dream-world was shared by humans and Asgardians. And it so happened that the God of Mischief had found a way to get into some human's dream, providing he or she were indeed asleep. It may just be a dream, but both persons would act completely naturally, as if it were reality.

Loki cherished and hated the knowledge that Natasha despised him. He found it so much easier to brood on his dreams and memories and thoughts in his cell, than to look at reality and try to find a way to escape. What would be the point of escape? His own question started his mind. Freedom, the chance to commit evil or mischief, the list goes on and he knows it. Then why doesn't he want to escape? Perhaps it was because he wanted to continue dreaming, or that he didn't want to face the harsh reality. Well for the moment he just didn't want to speak, hear or see lady who had entered his personal space (even though she was a few meters away). He might as well forget her existence; it didn't matter anymore to him anyway… His thoughts were now of a girl with flame coloured hair. A mortal girl, who detested his very being.

"Loki…" A feminine voice echoed in his head and Loki was pushed out of his daydreaming. His head did not change it's position on his forearms but he uttered a grumble.

"Loki!" Her voice was more persistent. Loki didn't bother to look up.

"Who sent you?" He grumbled quietly.

"What-"

"Who sent you here?" Loki's voice had a slight tinge of aggravation in it.

"I came on my own wish to see you, my lord Loki." She answered quickly and competently Judging by her voice the woman felt hurt.

"I am the _God_ of lies; I can see them purely when I hear them. Who asked you to consider coming here, if that is how you wish for me to put it?" Loki was once again speaking a calm but disrespectful voice.

"Thor did." Came her steady but even more hurt voice. "He asked me to consider coming here today. But the thing is, I've tried to see you before, but the guards did not let me through, even though I argued and argued, they said they'd need permission from the All-Father, Freja or Thor. I went home, after I couldn't find Thor in the Palace, to find him at my doorstep. He said he'd give his permission to the guards and here I am. Beside you." She was sounding almost romantic at the end of her little speech which made Loki feel all the worse. But then he started laughing, almost manically, he threw his head back and laughed in front of the woman, who stared at him in confusion from her position on the floor.

"Have I said something to amuse you?" She asked with her ever so courtly manners which did everything to make Loki even more annoyed.

Suddenly, he sprang up and walked towards the bars, which divided him from the outside world. He gripped them with his pale hands and looked into the woman's eyes. The woman had been so startled she leapt from her crouching position to her full height and backed up against a nearby wall. Loki was angry, hell, furious.

"You want to know what amuses me?" he questioned her with rage. "I'll tell you what! It's my brother's stupidity!" he screamed, spitting at the floor beneath her feet. "You! You came here, but I know full well that you have no idea of my nature what so ever! And it's not that you don't know me, it's just that you have never been anything more to me but ignorant! You I could forgive, for it is your nature to be unintelligent and dull and mindless! But THOR?" He laughed again. "He _is_ an idiot!" He looked at the woman, whose eyes were being filled with tears. "Thor sent _you_, my formally betrothed, who I have not loved for one _sane second_ of my life, to comfort me?" He looked at the poor woman ruthlessly. If was going to finish with her bond to him once and forever. "My brother was supposed to know of the reason of my agony and bliss, and he sent you!"

"Why do you burn, Loki, why? I honestly do not know!" The woman pleaded. Loki smiled and laughed a bit.

"Because of a woman." He whispered.

"What angered you in her actions?"

"I hate her and I love her. And both those feelings bring to life more hate and love!" He laughed and leaned against the wall.

"And if I ask for forgiveness for my actions?" she said.

"And why do you always think it was you?" he screamed at her.

Her face was painted with shock and regret.

"Yes, my 'dearest'! I have those feelings for a different woman! In fact, a _mortal_ woman! A woman who despises my existence!" The woman leaned against the nearest wall to her, with utter defeat, shock and heartbreak.

"Please, is there anything I can do to completely aid you, so that then I can hate you for all eternity?"

"Yes, there is in fact!" he looked at her intently. "Take my hand."

"What?"

"Take my hand and say the first spell I taught you, it will change our body's positions. I'll be free and you'll be in this cell. You will then aid me and have the right to hate me." He smiled conveniently.

She took his hand and they immediately swapped places. He smiled charmingly, put on n invisibility spell and ran off.

Sorry that the last bit was lame, I just had a bit of writer's block there.

I should update during the week, and I'm going to start another fic, which will include the avengers playing truth or dare!

Danke Chaun! Gutten Morgen!


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow, guys, just WOW! The amount of comments and subscriptions I got was just amazing! Thank you! Thank YOU! I was meaning to right this chapter during the week, but you inspired me! Any way: Fourth Chapter…**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, me and Loki barged into Marvel and stole the copyrights, but somehow…Any way, it isn't mine…yet.**

_The helicarrier, 7:29, Conference room._

Fury walked to and fro as he waited for the rest of the Avengers to gather. Dam it, why did Thor have to break the news now, when the team had just about recovered? As Stark came in the meeting was about to be started, when Thor's arrival interrupted Fury's greeting speech.

"Welcome to the flying circus once again, agents. We've got some bad-"

"He's not in Asgard!" Thor shouted as he entered the room.

Natasha's heart jumped. The other Avengers had some ideas on what Thor meant, but Natasha Romanoff was absolutely dead-on sure what the bad news was.

"Sh*t!" Fury cursed under his breath. "If it rains, it pours!"

"You're not gonna tell us that Reindeer Games got off of Asgard, are you?" Tony asked.

"No agent Stark! I am not! I'm going to tell you that the God of Mischief has escaped his place of imprisonment and has run off. _And_ that there is a threat of him coming to Earth!" Fury was not amused by Tony's comment.

"So what exactly would he want on Earth?" Steve asked, his agent skills kicking in.

"Revenge, respect." Natasha answered for Fury. "All that he ever wanted, I suppose."

"And what if he doesn't come to Earth?" Tony persisted.

"Thor?" Fury asked the only other Asgardian in the room.

"Loki was released by his betrothed. She says that he told her something of a mortal woman because of which he burns." Thor said regretfully. Some glances were turned to Natasha who looked like she was concentrating on a random spot on the table.

"Director Fury, sir!" Agent Hill called from the control panel. "I think we've found him!"

Fury slammed his hand on the table. "Show us his position, agent Hill."

A map came up on the screen in the conference room. It started with an image of Europe and started scaling down.

"France," Natasha read out, "Paris, near the Eiffel Tower. Hm, he's not hiding himself, that's for sure."

"So what?" Tony asked expectantly, "Me and stars'n'stripes go to get him?"

"No!" Fury eyed him carefully, "Didn't work last time, won't work this time." He looked around. "You've got the task agents, find Loki, apprehend him, find out what he wants and get him off this planet, preferably back to Asgard. Get working!" Fury left the room, marching off to the control desk.

"Ok! Let's think weaknesses!" Tony started in his self-obsessed manner. "What have we got?"

"He's vain, self-centred; assured in himself; the list goes on and on." Came Clint's dull reply.

"Are you serious? The guys a GOD!" Steve said. And then the babbling and grumbling continued, with Thor budging in, protecting Loki. Natasha's heart was pounding. She was the only one not arguing. She knew what his only weakness was but could she bring herself to say this? Why couldn't she? It's not like he mattered to her, it was her job to detain him and get him back where he belonged. She slammed her hand on the table in a similar manner to Fury. The room instantly went silent and the other Avengers faced her.

"Loki has got one weakness we can use against him." She looked around. "It's his only great weakness and our only chance. So are we agreed that we have to take the risk and use it?"

"Yeah, we are!" Tony said after taking in everyone's faces which were painted with determination. "You might want to enlighten us on what that weakness is." He said sarcastically.

"That one weakness," she said checking the ammo in her guns "is me." With those words she turned and walked off to find Fury to ask him whether she can get a jet to Paris.

"Did you know this?" Thor asked Clint. "Perhaps," he answered, going to collect his bow and arrows, determined to accompany Natasha.

"You know she can't go alone, right?" Steve told the remaining Avengers.

"Try telling her that!" Stark said as he marched of to find the Iron Man suit, wanting to get back to the Stark Tower.

"Are we just going to sit here and wait for Loki to kill her?" Stave asked in despair.

"No." Bruce said, "We're going to wait here for her to bring back Loki."

An alleyway in Paris.

Loki walked through the streets, admiring the city. He could see why the Midgardians had named Paris the city of love. But that wasn't why he chose this city to meet Natasha. He was know all across the States and the UK, he didn't want to show up in Germany again, he didn't think Russia would be appropriate, and the summer weather didn't welcome him, so that moved Greece, Spain, Italy and all the other countries of the Mediterranean Sea away. Well, his choice didn't exactly sadden him; he was after all a genius.

He suddenly realised that the past few minutes he was being followed. He was surprised to have found out just now, but that at least told him who the spy was. He turned round sharply.

"Miss Romanoff." He greeted the woman.

"Loki." She answered coldly. The demi-God looked around.

"Did SHIELD really choose a shabby alley in Paris as my place of assassination?" he asked, like that sort of thing was an everyday conversation theme.

"I was not sent to assassinate you, Loki, but something tells me that you know that."

"Well I had to start a conversation, didn't I?" he smiled. There she was: the root of all his pain and bliss. She looked quite amazing when she was wearing civilian clothes, not that he didn't know that she was still armed. He approached her, backing her into against the wall, placing his hands on the same wall to stop her 'escaping' from him. Her breath is still calm and steady, while his is already ragged and fierce

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" he asked her, whispering the words into her ear, his breath sliding across her neck.

"You now what I think of love, Loki." She answered as calmly as ever.

"I do not speak of love, Natasha!" he answered with a slightly raised tone, "I speak of pure harmless compliments that you should be getting every single day of your life." He spoke with a lower tone.

"Loki, why did you come to Earth?" She asked.

"For you, my devil." He whispered before burying his head in her neck.

Natasha let a sigh escape her mouth. _Dam it! What am I thinking!_ She cursed herself. _Oh curse it all, he doesn't mean this planet any harm, not yet. I might as well enjoy the moment…_ Then she lost all control over her thoughts. As Loki started kissing his way up her jaw line Natasha found herself entangling her arms around his neck. _God, he's toxic! Considering he is a God, perhaps that's just the explanation._

"You're thinking too much," he said quietly.

"What makes you so sure that I'm not planning how to kill you?" she asked.

"The fact that you are enjoying this," he said before he looked into her eyes. They drugged him immediately, not that it was their fault. Loki slowly brought his mouth to hers. Just as his lips locked on hers she moved her head slightly forward, making the contact more firm and all the more sweeter. To both their surprises Natasha did not back away. She actually embraced Loki and deepened the kiss.

There would be time to regret this later…

To be continued…

**Please review! Oh, and, I've added another Loki/Natasha fic, reviewers find it hilarious, check it on my page, if you're interested. Did I mention it includes the drunken Avengers playing 'Truth or Dare'?**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello there! It's me again! I know I haven't updated in a while but I have two 'good' (alright, they're pathetic!) reasons for that: 1) I had some activity in my private life, including birthdays, family trips and so on and so forth. 2) I had a tinge of writers' block. So here it is-chapter five. Mind you, this is the finishing chapter for this fanfiction. But I might write another story which will be a sequel to this one. The reason is that it will have a bit of different subject, do I'm breaking them apart. And I will also be uploading a series of drabbles and one other fic too, so keep an eye out for 'Field of sunflowers' and 'Loki, Loki!'**

**Chapter five**

**Disclaimer applies.**

Natasha woke up to find herself lying in a bed, her head and one of her hands placed on a man's pale chest. Normally she would have rapidly searched her memory for the explanation, but her subconscious told her that the man was not her target and that she had nothing to be afraid of. So she relaxed and searched her memory calmly and slowly. She finally realized who the man was and how they got there, so she sank into pleasure, forgetting everything else in the world.

His skin was pale to the eye, cool and muscular to the touch and exquisite in smell.

Natasha could feel his heart beating in his chest, precisely, steadily, accurately. She felt his breath graze the back of her neck, rhythmically, slowly, agonizingly pleasurefully. She turned her head and let her tongue brush the man's skin. The man moaned quietly but meaningfully. Natasha continued to brush her tongue along the man's chest, moving towards his collarbone, turning the licks into full kisses. The man finally woke up completely. He dragged the Natasha up onto himself and rewarded himself by stealing a passionate kiss from her.

Both of them were completely naked, and the fact that Natasha's hair was more than a bit untidy, made it clear to anyone that the last night was spent roughly and intensely.

Once they broke away they looked into the depths of the other's eyes and studied them accurately.

"Tell me, my demon" the man said after a few minutes, "why did you wake me at seven in the morning?"

"Because I was only given 24 hours to apprehend you and get you to the SHIELD helicarrier. And those 24 hours will end at O-nine-hundred today." She replied sweetly. The man flipped them over, making Natasha's body lie under his. "By the way," she continued, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, "What are you going to tell Fury? As in, why did you come here?"

Loki sighed. He looked at her full lips, lips that were made especially to be kissed by Gods, to be kissed by _him_. "I'll say that I have found my punishment in Asgard fulfilled and that I intend to make amends on Earth." He reached down to give her lips the treatment they were made for. But instead he found her finger, slowly stopping him from reaching his target. Loki loved her fingers. They were rough from working with guns, but they were delicate enough to stroke a God's cheek. He kissed her fingers instead.

"And what if Thor decides to take you back to Asgard anyway?" Loki growled and let go of her fingers.

"Then I'll tell him that he should know better than to break apart two loving hearts." He looked into her eyes once more. "Then he'll be able to argue me out to Earth from Odin and I'll be here once again." He lowered his head to kiss her but then stopped. "What if Fury refuses to keep me on Earth?"

"Leave him to me, I'll persuade him. If he gave me a second chance, why the hell can't he give you one?" They both smiled. And once again Loki's lips tried to reach their intended target. This time they were successful.

Loki felt that something inside him had changed. He was still burned by Natasha but something was missing. It took him a minute-long kiss to realize what that was.

_Rage_. He didn't feel it inside him any more. He felt passion, lust, love and many other feelings, but none that fitted into the hate-rage-anger category. And anyway, what was there to rage about? He was lying in the same bed as Natasha Romanoff, naked, an intense night behind their backs, and all the time the woman of his dreams was quite willing. Loki suddenly felt something else in his heart. It was a new feeling to him but he knew that he could get used to it quickly because it was a leisurely feeling. By what he could make of it he guessed that it had a very common name. _Content_.

0823 The Helicarrier

Nick Fury looked at the watch on his wrist. He damn well hoped that Romanoff was alright. He knew that she went to Paris alone, without back up and she hadn't reported for almost twenty four hours. He was getting a slightly unnerved. And to top all that up Stark entered the room.

"No news from Reindeer Games or the Spider?" he asked casually.

"No, not _yet_." Fury emphasised the word 'yet'.

"How long has she been away now?" Stark asked flicking through the computer systems SHIELD, like they were not marked 'Top Secret'.

"Twenty three hours and thirty seven-" he glanced at his watch again, "-eight minutes. If I get no news from her by the end of the hour I'm sending you, Rogers and Barton in."

"What? Me, stars'n'stripes and Legolas? Are you kidding? I'll be quicker on my own, those guys will just stress me out and slow us up!" Stark answered as if he was the Director of SHIELD, not Fury.

"That will be an order!" Fury said calmly.

Maria Hill came up on the monitor a few seconds later. "Sir, Romanoff has returned with Loki. I directed them to the conference room."

"Thank you, Agent Hill!" Fury retorted and walked towards the conference room. He stopped beside Stark.

"Get the rest of the Flying Monkeys into the conference room." Fury said before calmly walking off.

Stark found the rest of the Avengers in the gym. Amazingly enough all of them, including Thor, were just boxing. They paid Stark no attention when he came in, so he had to shout the announcement.

"Romanoff's back with Loki! Fury's told us to go join them in the conference room!" This grabbed their attention.

"Natasha," Clint said with a worried tone, "is she alright?"

"As far as I know, she got Reindeer Games in." Tony turned and exited the gym. The others followed in a steady pace seconds later.

Clint was worried for Natasha. What if she had got herself injured? But then his mind was taken by jealousy: what if she had to seduce Loki? He would have usually taken that alright: this wouldn't have been the first time, but this was Loki! What if she got carried away? After all, Loki had made his feelings clear to the team.

The team entered the conference room to see Natasha and Loki sitting together beside Fury, waiting for the rest to come in.

"You finally got here!" Fury said as the others came in.

Thor looked at his brother with a relieved smile. Loki returned a look of questioning.

"So," Fury said, "Loki Laufeyson, what do you want on Earth, or in other words, why have you come here?"

"I come in peace, Director." Loki answered, looking at each of the Avengers in turn. What was amazing, was that he didn't have a single droplet or anger in his gaze. "I mean to make amends on Earth, for the crimes that I have committed. I have found my imprisonment on Asgard useless. I do not learn to answer in front of those who I have hurt, nor do the hurt party get any sort of compensation from my side."

"Come on, Nick!" Tony said the second Loki finished. "Are you going to believe that? And even if you are, you can't give him a second chance on Earth!"

"Why not?" Natasha asked with curiosity.

"You know what he did! What if he does that again?"

"My brother was under the influence of the Chitauri!" Thor cried, protecting Loki's side.

"So what?" Steve came in. "Hitler's generals were under his influence, but they were still held responsible for their actions! So should Loki!"

"I agree with Steve! Loki has no place on this planet, nor should he have a second chance!" Clint joined. "His crimes were too great!"

"His crimes fitted his position." Natasha said coolly. "He is a God and he has committed a crime fit only for a God!" She continued raising her voice. "No mortal could have done such a crime because no mortal holds such power. And if I was given a second chance after my crimes, which were horrific for my position as a mortal, so should Loki be given a second chance after his crimes, horrific to a mortal, less so considering he is a God."

"Your case was different!" Clint shouted across the table. How could she have taken Loki's side. She had certain logic in her thoughts, but what the Hell?

"How?" Natasha asked with a raised tone. "How exactly was my case different? I killed about a third of the number of people that Loki killed, but Loki's kills were on an act of war, mine were planned assassinations! My crimes are worse than his in that way!" she let her words settle in the Avengers' mind before she continued with a calm voice. "Loki's crime is war, the deaths he caused were part of the 'natural' process of war, my crime was serial murder, were each death was carefully planned." She sat down and looked at Loki. He stared back in admiration: the woman knew her way with words.

Clint stared at Natasha with disapproval. She was a trained spy not a fighter. But she brought doubt to Clint's mind. And, Damn! , he didn't like the way Loki was looking at her. The two of them had shared a smile when silence had grabbed the room.

Suddenly the group remembered that Fury was in the room.

"Loki Laufeyson, I will give you a trial period of three weeks to prove your loyalty to SHIELD. You will be watched over by Romanoff and Thor and if your actions show any hostility you and agent Romanoff will pay the price." He studied the room carefully, seeing anger in almost every face. "Be glad that Agent Romanoff had vouched for you before this meeting started." He was about to leave the room when he turned back. "Thor, pass this information to Odin. The rest of you, dismissed!"

The team sat at the table for a few more minutes, sharing glances, speaking without opening mouths, arguing without breaking the silence. Finally, when Natasha had finished her stare-off with Clint she looked at Loki and simply said, "Welcome to SHIELD, Mr. Laufeyson." She walked out of the room, with Clint quickly on her heels. The rest of the party dismissed themselves one by one, after giving Loki his portion of their stares.

"Natasha!" Clint said, catching up with her. "What the Hell did you do?" He was angry. He was very angry.

"I did what I found 'right', agent Barton!" She said in the voice that meant she was off the 'friends' plane for the moment.

"Nat! You know what he did, last time he was here. How could you possible give him a second chance?"

"And you know what I did, before I came into SHIELD. And more so, YOU saved me and gave me a second chance. Why did you do that? After every crime I had committed, you saved my life?" She asked him rhetorically.

Clint looked into her eyes. He could have sworn that he had found her compromised, but there was nothing in her eyes that would tell him this. Damn the day Loki came to Earth.

"Director Fury, sir?" Loki asked the man beside him.

"What is it Loki?"

"Why did you give me this second chance?" The God of Mischief asked, truly curious.

"I don't know. I really don't know. But if you have any sort of conscience, you better behave. Romanoff has put her life on the line."

"I don't exactly believe that you would kill your best assassin. Firstly I don't believe you'll catch her off-guard, secondly, I don't think you'll do that because she's too good an agent to be taken out."

"I have to keep you behaved somehow!" Fury laughed.

"Welcome to SHIELD Mr. Laufeyson!" He stretched out his hand.

"The pleasure is all mine." Loki took the hand and shook it. "May I ask for my trial missions to be with agent Romanoff?" he added hopefully.

"I wouldn't let you go on a mission with anyone else!" Fury said, before walking away.

Satisfaction. That is what filled Loki's heart. He had a job with his beloved, somewhere where he could gain trust, where he was making amends. Somewhere where Odin would not treat him as the younger-son-turned-to-evil-genius.

What more could a God wish for?


End file.
